Petronilla Melusina von der Schulenburg, Countess of Walsingham, Countess of Chesterfield (1 April 1693 – 16 September 1778) was the natural daughter of King

George I of Great Britain George I (George Louis; ; 28 May 1660 – 11 June 1727) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Electorate of Hanover within the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. He was the fir ...

and his longtime mistress, Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess of Kendal.

Biography

In 1722, Melusina was created Baroness Aldborough and Countess of Walsingham as a life peer. After the death of her father in 1727, she lived mainly with her mother at Kendal House in

Isleworth Isleworth ( ) is a town located within the London Borough of Hounslow in West London, England. It lies immediately east of the town of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane. Isleworth's original area of se ...

. In

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

, on 5 September 1733 she married Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, a leading Whig politician. The couple had no children, but it is said that "family letters" suggest that Melusina may have been the mother, through an intimacy with Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, of Benedict Swingate Calvert. Calvert was born in England in around 1730–32, the illegitimate son of Charles Calvert, 5th

Baron Baltimore Baron Baltimore, of Baltimore, County Longford, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1625 and ended in 1771, upon the death of its sixth-generation male heir, aged 40. Holders of the title were usually known as Lord Baltimo ...

. His mother's identity is otherwise unknown.Washington, p. 176

References

Bibliography

* Washington, George Sydney Horace Lee, p. 176, "The Royal Stuarts in America" ''New England Historical and Genealogical Register'' (July 1950). 1693 births 1778 deaths

Melusina Mélusine () or Melusina is a figure of European folklore, a female spirit of fresh water in a holy well or river. She is usually depicted as a woman who is a serpent or fish from the waist down (much like a lamia or a mermaid). She is also ...

Illegitimate children of British monarchs Children of George I of Great Britain English countesses English people of German descent 18th-century English people 17th-century English women 17th-century English people 18th-century English women Earls in the Peerage of Great Britain Life peeresses created by George I Schulenburg family Daughters of kings {{GB-earl-stub